The Truth Behind Mother Goose

Ø𝚏𝚏beat ℙ𝚘𝚎𝚝
Offbeat Poetry
Published in
4 min readOct 19, 2019

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The simple and seemingly innocent nursery rhymes we grew up reciting; hide a twisted and dark history. Mother Goose’s ulterior social and political agendas are cleverly masked in the guise of playful nursery rhymes. Pick up a copy of The Real Mother Goose (see “Further Reading” free download links below), and reread the familiar childhood stories with eyes wide open. Let’s examine five of the most popular and creepy rhymes with some historical context: Three Blind Mice, Mary Mary, Quite Contrary, Humpty Dumpty, Baa, Baa, Black Sheep, There Was an Old Women; found in, The Real Mother Goose illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright.

THREE BLIND MICE

Three blind mice! See how they run! They all ran after the farmer’s wife, Who cut off their tails with a carving knife. Did you ever see such a thing in your life, As three blind mice?

Meaning & Origin

The farmer’s wife, Queen Mary I of England a.k.a. Bloody Mary, beheaded three mice, representing noblemen, who plotted against her aggressive efforts to spread Catholicism throughout England in the 1500s.

MARY, MARY, QUITE CONTRARY

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How…

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Ø𝚏𝚏beat ℙ𝚘𝚎𝚝
Offbeat Poetry

Inspired by words and the spaces in between. I’m a creator, writer, and deliberate dreamer who strives to understand myself, others, and the world through art.